


Enhanced Olfactory Function

by achievemenhunter



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Egg the cat, Fluff, M/M, Tangled AU, There's a little bit of blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-18
Updated: 2014-05-18
Packaged: 2018-01-25 14:05:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1651301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/achievemenhunter/pseuds/achievemenhunter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gavin just wanted to see the lights that always appear in the sky on his birthday, but didn't know how he'd get there.</p><p>He never expected the answer to suddenly come tumbling through his window.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enhanced Olfactory Function

**Author's Note:**

> You can blame tumblr for this.

"But I want to see the lanterns up close for once, Geoff!" Gavin begged, tugging on the older man's sleeve. "Please, I'm going mental being cooped up in here all the time!"

 

Geoff tugged himself free, swinging his dark cloak around his shoulders. "We've talked about this already, and you're not going to change my mind. It's too dangerous, Gavin. What if someone found out about your powers? You think you're cooped up _here_ , wait 'til someone slaps some chains on you and makes you sing for them."

 

"You make me sing for you," Gavin muttered rebelliously. 

 

Geoff's stern gaze shifted towards a glare. "I don't _make_ you do anything. You sing for me because I'm your father, and loving sons are supposed to keep their fathers happy."

 

Gavin stared at the floor, shamefaced. "Sorry, Dad," he said meekly, and Geoff nodded his approval. Gavin only referred to him as 'Dad' when Gavin knew he himself was in the wrong.

 

He playfully tweaked Gavin's nose. "Alright, Gavvers. I trust you. I'll be back in about a week, try not to trip over and fall out the window while I'm gone," he joked, hoisting himself onto the little wooden platform attached to a rope on a pulley that dangled just outside the window. Gavin wondered absently why Geoff had chosen for there to be such an inherently dangerous method for leaving the tower. What was so wrong with putting in some stairs? He sighed as Geoff reached the bottom and a tugged on the rope, letting Gavin know it was okay to haul the contraption back up, cutting off any access to the tower. It was probably just Geoff being his usual overprotective self, Gavin thought, paranoid that someone would discover the tower, then make their way up and kidnap Gavin. Gavin waved as Geoff squinted up at the window before turning and leaving. 

 

"Looks like it's just you and me for a bit, Egg," Gavin murmured to the cat sitting on the windowsill by his elbow. Egg meowed at him, and he indulged her by scratching her under the chin. She purred with contentedness as he stared wistfully off into the distance. 

 

~* * *~

 

 _Well, that could've gone better_ , Ryan thought wryly as he darted through the forest. At least it looked like he'd managed to evade the royal guards, even if he'd come up empty with his most recent cat burglary escapade. He glanced around the cave he'd accidentally stumbled into. There was light at the end, which probably meant it opened up in another part of the forest, and as such he wouldn't be stuck sitting around in a cave while he waited to make sure the guards were gone. Grinning, he made his way to the exit, and stopped short once he stepped back out into daylight. 

 

This had to be the most ridiculously idyllic meadow he'd ever seen. 

 

Tiny, pastel-coloured flowers sprang up under his boots amongst the lush green grass. A sparkling clear river coiled lazily through the clearing, its cheerful burbling offset by birdsong. And right in the middle, a single soaring tower. Ryan's eyes lit up. 

 

Refuge. 

 

Ryan dashed across the field, quickly reaching the base of the tower and scouting around for a way to get up. He frowned as he made a complete circle around the tower and didn't find a door. That was... decidedly odd, he thought, but shrugged it off, digging in his satchel for a couple of the arrows that he'd grabbed off the guards when they'd been shooting at him. No less odd than the tower being in the middle of a meadow deep in the forest, at any rate.

 

He wedged each arrow firmly into one of the gaps between the stone blocks that made up the tower wall, then tested his weight on them. They bent slightly, but held firm. He braced his feet against the wall, the toes of his boots digging into the cracks, and started to climb, grunting slightly every time he repositioned one of the arrows.

 

When he reached the point where the tower suddenly widened, he paused, breathing heavily. Ever so carefully, he tugged one of the arrows free and stretched his arm out, tongue poking out slightly as his fingertips searched for a decent hold. With a small crow of triumph, he stuck the arrow into the small space, then repeated the process with the other arrow, feet still braced against the wall. Once he was sure that his handholds were secure, he let his body swing out, dangling by his arms. He slowly worked one of the arrows loose, and, with an almighty heave of his body, surged up to jam it into the next crack in the stonework.

 

The arrow skipped off the wall and he swung wildly, the arrow scraping a glancing blow against the arm that was the only thing keeping him from plummeting to his death.

 

He cried out as the tip of the arrow tore a jagged wound across his forearm, his grip slackening momentarily and almost failing completely. Fighting through the pain, he tightened his grip, groaning as he brought his flailing arm under control and managed to properly slot the arrow, now slightly bloodstained, into a space between two of the stones. Panting and sweating, he dragged himself up the last half-metre of tower wall and tumbled over the windowsill, lying flat on his back with his breath coming in harsh gasps.

 

He heard a terrified squawk to the side and turned his head, seeing a young man, dressed in purple and white, scrambling away from him while holding out a frying pan like a weapon.

 

"Hi," he offered breathlessly, and the young man squawked again, tumbling backwards and narrowly avoiding stepping on the cat crouched by his bare feet, whose hackles were raised in Ryan's direction.

 

"Who are you?" the man asked tremulously, still holding out the frying pan.

 

Ryan propped himself up on the elbow of his uninjured arm. "Name's Ryan." He raised an eyebrow. "And you are?"

 

"Gavin," the younger man replied hesitantly, then lowered the frying pan a little as he noticed Ryan's injury. "Oh! You're hurt."

 

Ryan glanced at his forearm, which was now rather liberally smeared with blood that was trickling down his skin and dripping from his fingertips. "Oh, right. That." He frowned at the small red puddle forming next to him. "Sorry, I'm getting blood all over your floor."

 

"Here, let me help." Gavin put down the frying pan and started forward, but then stopped, chewing his lip anxiously.

 

"Well, are you going to help me or not?" Ryan asked, a little irritable and starting to get light-headed.

 

"If I fix you, will you take me to see the stars?"

 

"Stars?" Ryan asked, brow furrowing in confusion.

 

"Not the normal ones. The ones that only come out once a year, always on my birthday. I've always dreamed of seeing them up close." Gavin bounded across the room and pulled back a curtain, revealing a painting of bright lights against the night sky. Ryan's face cleared.

 

"You mean the lantern festival?"

 

" _Lanterns_ ," Gavin murmured, green eyes brightening. "Will you take me to see them if I fix up you arm?"

 

Ryan paused, thinking. The chances of a wound like his getting infected was pretty high, considering most archers didn't make a point of ensuring their arrowheads were sanitary, and that certainly wasn't something he wanted to deal with. He wasn't the greatest at cleaning and dressing wounds himself, and he figured Gavin probably wouldn't offer his help if he didn't at least have some idea of what he was doing.

 

"Alright. Patch me up and I'll take you to see the lanterns." _Could always just dump the kid somewhere along the way anyway_ , he thought, but immediately doubted himself when he saw the exuberant expression lighting up Gavin's face. The young man was so honest and free of guile that Ryan instantly knew that he'd feel terrible if he abandoned Gavin before holding up his end of the deal.

 

 _Damn your soft heart, Haywood. It's going to get you killed one of these days_.

 

Gavin was nervously chewing his lip again.

 

"Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to go get some bandages? I'm still kind of bleeding, you know."

 

"Right! Right. Sorry." He started forward, kneeling next to Ryan and hesitating a moment before taking the older man's hand in his. Cautiously, he stretched out Ryan's arm, leaning towards the wound.

 

"Hey, what're you-" Ryan protested as Gavin nuzzled his face against Ryan's injured forearm. The younger man blushed and softly began to sing. 

 

As the song progressed, Gavin's nose began to glow with a pulsating golden light. Ryan's eyes widened in shock. "Uh - your- your nose is doing a thing. Should it be doing that?"

 

Gavin shot him a look and sang another verse. The older man flinched as the glow spread from Gavin's nose along the jagged cut on Ryan's forearm. He felt the injury heat up, the pain being replaced with a warm and tingling sensation that faded when Gavin stopped singing and pulled away. 

 

His jaw dropped as he stared at his arm. 

 

"How..." He scratched at some of the blood still sticking to his arm, but it clearly wasn't a trick. His arm was healed, and from what he could see, there was no scar either.

 

He stared at his arm for a few more seconds, then back at Gavin, who was wiping a smudge of Ryan's blood from his face.

 

"...You're taking this well," Gavin hazarded.

 

Ryan blinked and shook his head distractedly. "Oh, don't worry, I'm having a rather serious internal freak-out over here." He rubbed a thumb over the blood staining his forearm, then nodded decisively, biting down on one of his knuckles in an attempt to help calm his steadily increasing rate of breathing. "Have you always been able to do this?" he asked distractedly, words slightly muffled around his forefinger.

 

Gavin hugged his shoulders. "For as long as I can remember.  That's why I live here with Geoff - my dad - so I'm away from people who'd just want to lock me up and use me for my powers."

 

Something close to concern settled on Ryan's features, and his hand dropped. "You mean you've never been outside this tower?"

 

Gavin shook his head.

 

"...You realise that you're just as trapped as if someone actually was locking you up?"

 

Gavin shook his head again, this time with more vehemence. "No, it's not like that! Geoff's keeping me safe here."

 

"So he doesn't make you use your powers on him?"

 

"...It's not like that," he repeated softly. "It's too dangerous for me. I can't let people find out. I shouldn't even have shown _you_." His breathing picked up a little, and a panicked look entered his eyes. "I shouldn't have shown you, but you were bleeding and I couldn't just _not_ help and oh god what's Geoff going to say when he gets back-"

 

"Gavin." Ryan said firmly, grasping the near-hyperventilating man by the shoulders. "You need to be able to bring yourself to leave this tower. It's not right for you to be stuck in here for the rest of your days. It's no way to live." He smiled encouragingly, giving Gavin a small squeeze. "Besides, how else are you supposed to see the lantern festival up close if you're too scared to leave?"

 

"But what if someone finds out about what I can do?" he whispered, relaxing slightly in Ryan's warm hands.

 

"I'll keep you safe," Ryan promised. "That's what you wanted me for, right? I'll take you to see the lanterns, and then bring you back here, and I won't let anyone touch you. Geoff doesn't even have to know, if you're worried he'll get angry. Deal?" He looked deep into Gavin's eyes until the younger man nodded. _Who says there's no honour among thieves?_ Ryan thought wryly, wondering at what point he'd become so invested in making sure that the younger man got to live out his dream. "Okay then, it's settled. Grab anything you want to take with you, we've got a festival to get to."

 

**Author's Note:**

> I have a sudden need to see Ryan in a Flynn Rider costume.
> 
> Or for someone to make fanart of Ryan in a Flynn Rider costume.
> 
> If someone does that for me, I will cry tears of joy.


End file.
